Bezos got things going in early September, when he announced he’d build a second headquarters, dubbed HQ2, for the Seattle-based behemoth online retailer in the North American location that offered him the best deal. Since then, more than 200 cities or states have responded, lured in part by the promise of some 50,000 relatively high-paying jobs.
As it is, Rahm and Rauner have already offered Bezos about $1.32 billion in Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) tax credits. This is the program in which the state essentially lets a corporation keep the income tax dollars that its employees would normally pay to the state.
Of course, a property tax break for Bezos means a property tax hike for the rest of us schmoes as the government tries to compensate for money it’s not getting from some of its most valuable properties downtown. This is regressive taxation as the tax burden shifts from the wealthy to everyone else. Ordinary citizens will pay more so Bezos pays less.
Translation: We’ll twist their arms into submission!
